This is my entry for the Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show on July 10th at the Toy Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. I don't know what this guy's name is. I just know he's landed from a crazy dog fight, torn off his helmet and about to throw down with the enemy. Watch Out!

This is only my second show so far. But the same fear has run through me for each show. What if I come up with the same concept as someone else? Maybe it's because I'm a twin, but I strive to be unique. So I really took my time thinking what I wanted to do for this guy. I finally settled on two distinguishing modifications that would help my toy stand out. The first concept was proven possible with the help of my heat gun. After warming up the vinyl I was able to bend the wings into practically any shape I wanted. The other was the concept of my character kneeling down with the wings draped over his shoulders. From there, just like most of my pieces I really don't have any solid plans aside from just see where it takes me.

Another aspect of this piece was my exploration of a new material. I have recently decided to get away from sculpey to materials that are more durable. I purchased some Aves Apoxie Sculpt and found it to be tough as nails. The leather pilot's cap is actually a sculpey blend over the apoxie sculpt head. I wasn't able to get the finer details with the apoxie sculpt and felt that the sculpey would hold up as long as it was on a rigid surface. I have since used Magic Sculpt and found I like it more than Aves but it's another great tool to have. The plus on Magic Sculpt's side is that I can actually get the finer details. Not quite as easily as I do with sculpey, but it's simply a matter of speed and not workability. I think over time as I become more confident in my sculpting skills it should be plenty of time.

Here's a look at my custom Celsius that will be in the Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show on July 10th at the Toy Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. I made some big modifications to this platform as you can see in the pic below. Is that the head separated from the body? I'm varnishing this guy right now and it'll be shipped out to the gallery tomorrow.

So a few weeks ago KidRobot Social Media Embassador Ryan the Wheelbarrow ( www.ryanthewheelbarrow.com , check out that mustache!!) contacted me about participating in the Munny Munth contest and said if I was to share with them some WIP pictures that they'd send me a Munny to work on. I would have entered the contest anyways, but it was super cool to get that request and I was happy to help. So I created this custom Munny for the contest (you can vote for me here if you'd like ) and all the while I was taking pictures to show everyone my process. I ALSO, by suggestion from Mr Spanky Stokes, decided to try out a new sculpting material. Magic-Sculpt. I had heard a lot about it around the web and finally found a place to by it around here. The stuff is awesome. It's a little quicker than I'd like but I'm getting used to it. Anyways, you can find the WIP pics over at the Kronikle ( http://kronikle.kidrobot.com/custom-control-kevin-gosselin/ )
and if you'd like to take this fella home, visit my shop.

I created this guy over a month ago for the trade and have been waiting to reveal it here. The recipient of the trade received it now and I can post. I really like this little guy as he actually stands on his little peg leg. He's accompanied by his bottle of rum and underneath the eye patch is a old war wound. And to be sure he was delivered with style, I created a custom box.

Oh Geez. Just like that over a month has passed and if you were to be a subscriber of this blog you might think I fell off the face of the earth. The reality is that I have been doing work but not as much as before and communication has been at a minimum. So what happened? Well, as I mentioned in the prior post, my baby girl was born. My wife and I took off just two weeks from our respective jobs to enjoy her without any distraction and it was great. After two weeks we both got back to work and I was able to get a considerable amount of work done. However, after one week, the visitors began to roll in.

Don't get me wrong, I love having my family and friends come into town and especially in this case as they were able to enjoy visiting with baby Alexandria. The BUT in this all is...

but I didn't get any work done for the two weeks that guests were in town. BUT, now all that is done and armed with pleasant memories of family and friends it's time to get my ass in gear and really get some work done. I've got a huge workload over the next few months so expect lots of cool stuff to appear on here. I'm really excited about all the things that are happening and especially seeing my dream of being a fine artist grow into a reality.

So what am I working on?? I'm finishing up that Kuso Vinyl for the TAG show in LA for starters. The sculpts all done and I'm just trying to figure out the color. Also, I'm currently working on a seriously awesome commissioned collaboration with a New York based customizer/illustrator. I'm serious, this is going to be awesome. And then there's a little something that will hopefully show up soon on someone's blog. Somebody asked me to put together another tutorial. Gotta make it somehow new from the one I made just a little bit ago but I'm sure I'll come up with something. Oh, and then there's a few other commissions, another show, Most Wanted series and maybe, just maybe a production piece in the works for next year.

Oh yeah, the coffee is in me, the music is blasting and both have got me pumped. Let's get the day started, It's not getting any longer.

FOLLOW ME

WHO IS KEVIN GOSSELIN?

Kevin Gosselin is a custom toy designer and illustrator influenced by sci-fi and fantasy art, comic books, anime, the masters and too many contemporary artist to fully list. Kevin is exploring the designer toy scene. It mixes his love of sculpture, illustration and fine art and is the perfect output for his passions.